PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s Behavioral Health Advisory Board has recommended 12 proposals receive funding from the Health & Human Services Department.
The Board of County Commissioners heard about the proposals during Monday’s work session.
The 12 organizations to receive recommendations for funding were chosen from a total of 14 submitted proposals, with the amount of funding for the two-year funding cycle hitting $1.8 million.
The Behavioral Health Advisory Board decided to prioritize allocating funds for unfunded or underfunded programs, Christine Dunn said.
Dunn briefly went over each of the 14 proposals and explained why they were or were not recommended to receive funding.
Peninsula Behavioral Health was recommended for full funding at $66,666.66 for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), which is “a federal grant program that provides assistance to individuals, including outreach services by a case manager to people who are experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness or risk of homelessness,” according to the proposal description.
Next, West End Behavioral Health Services was partially funded $50,000 for its West End Outreach Services, which “will provide intake-assessment, individual and group counseling, case management, peer support services, medication monitoring and adult day support services.”
First Step Family Support Center received full funding at $200,000 for “Parents as Teachers: Behavioral Health & Early Intervention Program,” which “is an evidence-based early prevention and intervention home visiting program designed for families experiencing multiple risk factors in their lives while raising their children age 0-5.”
Sequim Middle and High School received partial funding at $90,906.25 for its Education and Early Intervention for Mental Wellness program. The funding is to specifically cover the program manager, Dunn said.
“This was basically because they have no sustainability plan for this program,” she said. “It keeps getting larger, but they are not engaging in ways to seek out additional funding for this. The school district is not contributing any funding to this, and there were concerns that this could potentially be billed to insurance, but they’re not screening to see if kids have insurance that could be billed.”
The Benji Project was fully funded at $55,000 for “Building Resilience in Clallam County: Expanding Evidence-based Youth Mental Health Prevention,” which is designed to use curriculum established by the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. The program already has been successful in Jefferson County.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula was fully funded at $70,000 for its Behavioral Health Initiative, which uses a specialist to strengthen the organization’s “capacity to address youth mental and behavioral health through trauma-informed, strength-based practices.”
Transformations by Olympic Angeles received half of its request at $25,294 for its Love Box and Dare to Dream case management. Through those programs, the organization provides homes for children to have experiences while connecting with others.
Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic (OPCC) received partial funding at $204,684.22 for its REdisCOVERY Unfunded/Underfunded Bridge Care program. OPCC will use the funds to “provide proactive, reactive and co-response outreach to identify underserved community members with behavioral health needs.”
Olympic Personal Growth Center received partial funding at $144,684.22 for its Filling the Gap program, which “is an avenue to direct services funding for youth and adults in need of behavioral health treatment and assessment including substance use disorder treatment.”
Peninsula Behavioral Health received full funding at $340,000 to provide funding for uncompensated care that directly bridges the gap between service costs and limited reimbursements.
The Port Angeles Fire Department was fully funded at $348,080.43 for its Community Paramedic/Post Overdose Response Team.
Reflections Counseling Services Group received partial funding at $204,684.22 to provide a full scope of treatment to underinsured and noninsured participants.
The county commissioners are scheduled to approve the funding recommendations at their Dec. 2 meeting.
________
Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
